• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Comment Policy
    • Disclosures & Disclaimers
  • Resources
    • Links, Essays & Articles
    • Fandomology!
    • CLAMP Directory
    • BlogRoll
  • Features & Columns
    • 3 Things Thursday
    • Adventures in the Key of Shoujo
    • Bit & Blips (game reviews)
    • BL BOOKRACK
    • Bookshelf Briefs
    • Bringing the Drama
    • Comic Conversion
    • Fanservice Friday
    • Going Digital
    • It Came From the Sinosphere
    • License This!
    • Magazine no Mori
    • My Week in Manga
    • OFF THE SHELF
    • Not By Manga Alone
    • PICK OF THE WEEK
    • Subtitles & Sensibility
    • Weekly Shonen Jump Recaps
  • Manga Moveable Feast
    • MMF Full Archive
    • Yun Kouga
    • CLAMP
    • Shojo Beat
    • Osamu Tezuka
    • Sailor Moon
    • Fruits Basket
    • Takehiko Inoue
    • Wild Adapter
    • One Piece
    • After School Nightmare
    • Karakuri Odette
    • Paradise Kiss
    • The Color Trilogy
    • To Terra…
    • Sexy Voice & Robo
  • Browse by Author
    • Sean Gaffney
    • Anna Neatrour
    • Michelle Smith
    • Katherine Dacey
    • MJ
    • Brigid Alverson
    • Travis Anderson
    • Phillip Anthony
    • Derek Bown
    • Jaci Dahlvang
    • Angela Eastman
    • Erica Friedman
    • Sara K.
    • Megan Purdy
    • Emily Snodgrass
    • Nancy Thistlethwaite
    • Eva Volin
    • David Welsh
  • MB Blogs
    • A Case Suitable For Treatment
    • Experiments in Manga
    • MangaBlog
    • The Manga Critic
    • Manga Report
    • Soliloquy in Blue
    • Manga Curmudgeon (archive)

Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

July 24, 2008 by MJ 12 Comments

Manga. Sort of. Which I am able to make all about me.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what draws me to manga over western comics, partly because I’ve started reading Captain America, which I’m enjoying, but wow it is hard for me to get used to reading comics in color. I feel like I should like it *more*, but I mostly find it overwhelming (which is, I think, the main reason I haven’t made it through all of Sandman, despite my deep love for Neil Gaiman). For some reason it is a lot easier for me to follow comics that are in black and white, and there’s no getting around it. I’m also really accustomed to the number of panels found on a page of manga, rather than on a page of a western comic book, and I find manga easier to look at because of that as well. What I’m really getting around to here, though, is why I tend to consider my graphic novel in-progress to be an OEL manga rather than an American comic book, and these things (as well as others) influence that. In the next couple of months I’m going to be searching for an artist to collaborate with me on the project, and I think I need to be clear with myself about what I’m looking for, before I get all tangled up in that.

Despite my declaration that I’m writing an OEL manga, I’m really not particular about the drawing style I’m looking for, or at least I’m not tied to just one style (of course, neither is manga, but that’s a whole conversation on its own). My priorities are that it be someone who enjoys comics in black-and-white, who wants to draw for a tankobon-sized page, and who doesn’t want to draw super-heroes. I also am deeply committed to the main (female) character *not* being conventionally beautiful, and I’d like to work with an artist who will enjoy drawing her. I consider my story to be a shoujo adventure manga, but I’m also not particularly interested in the flowery drawing style associated with a lot of shoujo manga. This story has some action involved, but not much fighting. It is set in New England, and I’d like it to look that way, though there are many alternate dimensions involved, so there is plenty of opportunity for variety there. There is even one dimension I imagine looking somewhat like Japan. The story is pretty epic: complex world-building and plot, but still strongly character-driven. I think the artist needs to love the story as much as I do, and I will have a completed script (suitable for sharing) of the first volume ready by the end of September. Until then, I can provide a pretty comprehensive summary. I have been trying to shape it to fit into three volumes, but I’m not sure that’s going to be successful. I think I’d like to get some feedback on the first volume from a collaborator before I try to make that determination for sure.

Why is it a shoujo manga? Well, I’m writing it for girls. But girls like *me*, which probably includes a lot of boys, too. It has a female character in the lead role, and a little bit of romance, though that isn’t the focus. It explores the relationship between dreams and “reality,” and issues of family and self-esteem. Also, war. And high school. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. And the little sister is a lesbian, though we may not get far enough into the story for that to be evident to casual readers, since it isn’t a focus in this initial arc, and it would take getting a green light for a long series to get that far in. But it’s true anyway. All told, though, I think it’s a shoujo adventure manga. Jason Thompson recently posted to ask why there aren’t more shounen titles in OEL manga, and I’m sad to not be helping at all with that, but no matter how I look at it, I think this is a shoujo manga.

Why am I rambling on about this? I don’t know. Perhaps I’m hoping the perfect artist will be passing by. Or maybe I just need to write this stuff out for myself. I’m anxious to get the first volume completely scripted (the panel descriptions are holding me up), because I really want to get into the meat of the story, which doesn’t really start until the second volume.

In other news, Brigid Alverson made me want to get off my butt and finally read some Tezuka.

This entry feels really disjointed. I blame the weather.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: DAILY CHATTER, FEATURES Tagged With: graphic novel, manga, navel-gazing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. gloss says

    July 24, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    partly because I’ve started reading Captain America
    WAIT WHAT YOU HAVE? *rejoice*

    I had the same difficulty switching from B/W indie to the highly-colored mainstream comics.

    I’m really excited to read your manga, you know. <333

    Reply
    • melinda says

      July 24, 2008 at 5:01 pm

      I HAVE. :D I wondered if you’d see that. Hee. I like it quite a bit so far.

      *heart*

      Reply
      • gloss says

        July 24, 2008 at 5:13 pm

        !!!
        Are you reading volume 5/Brubaker’s? Or earlier stuff, or what? I NEED DETAILS.

        Reply
        • melinda says

          July 24, 2008 at 5:36 pm

          I’ve only just finished volume 1, so I’m really just barely started. I think I maybe only have through 4?

          Reply
          • gloss says

            July 24, 2008 at 5:58 pm

            I think we’re crossing wires here? Volume 1 of the (modern) Cap ran for 400+ issues, from the mid-1960s to the early 90s. The current series, by Ed Brubaker, is volume 5. Is there a writer identified on your copy?

            Reply
            • melinda says

              July 24, 2008 at 6:10 pm

              Hmmmm I just have what you gave me. I was assuming vol. 1 because I have four files, numbered from 1-4. I think they are from 1991. By Fabian someone and Kevin someone.

              Reply
              • gloss says

                July 24, 2008 at 6:23 pm

                OHHHH! Okay, gotcha. That’s the Nicieza mini-series. I’m sorry for all the confusion (and for forgetting that I’d sent that to you).

                Reply
                • melinda says

                  July 24, 2008 at 6:25 pm

                  That is what I’ve got! :)

                  Reply
  2. kate says

    July 24, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    You sly fox, you, reading Captain America!

    Reply
    • melinda says

      July 24, 2008 at 6:43 pm

      Well, it’s about time, isn’t it? :D

      Reply
  3. J says

    July 25, 2008 at 3:27 pm

    I just need to chime in here with my surprise and pleasure…. and add that I had a really hard time with “all those pictures” when I started reading graphic novels.

    Reply
    • melinda says

      July 26, 2008 at 10:21 am

      Hee! Well, so did I, even before I started reading manga. Do you remember my big post about how I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get really into comics or animation? HA.

      Reply


Before leaving a comment at Manga Bookshelf, please read our Comment Policy.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 | Log in
Copyright © 2010 Manga Bookshelf | Powered by WordPress & the Genesis Framework
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.